Pete Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon under President-elect Donald Trump appears to be back on track as key Republican senators look past allegations of sexual assault and drinking at work. But that doesn’t mean voters are on board.
A new Civiqs poll, fielded Dec. 7-10, found that 48% of registered voters oppose Hegseth’s nomination for secretary of defense, while 42% support it.
This is the lowest level of net support the poll found among the Cabinet appointees it covered. Even cretins like anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (for secretary of health and human services), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (for director of national intelligence), and former federal prosecutor Kash Patel (for FBI director) saw higher levels of support among America’s voters.
This poll arrives as many Republican senators have voiced support for Hegseth.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had previously called some allegations against Hegseth “very disturbing,” said on Tuesday that the Fox News host was “in pretty good shape.” Texas Sen. John Cornyn also said he’d support Hegseth “barring any unforeseen circumstances.” And on Tuesday, Trump’s transition team released a video showcasing three other Republican senators who will supposedly back Hegseth’s bid in Trump’s Cabinet.
Hegseth met on Monday with onetime GOP holdout Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, for a second time. Their discussions were apparently positive: Shortly after their get-together Ernst issued a statement where she said she would “support Pete through this process.”
In some ways, the negative views toward Hegseth aren’t surprising. A November YouGov survey found that the majority of Americans viewed allegations of sexual assault (62%), domestic violence (61%), and a history of substance abuse (51%) as disqualifying to serve in a presidential Cabinet position.
Hegseth’s nomination has been imperiled by allegations that he raped a woman at a Republican women’s event in 2017. (Hegseth said the sex was consensual, and while he was not charged, he also paid the accuser an undisclosed amount.) But with Republicans’ slim majority in the Senate, Hegseth’s appointment could be torpedoed if he loses only a handful of votes, and many senators’ initial reaction to his naming was noncommittal.
But the concurrent statements from Senate Republicans are a major shift considering that many of them, including Ernst, had pointedly refused to say anything even remotely positive about Hegseth’s nomination last week. At one point, there was widespread speculation that Hegseth’s nomination was doomed—to the point where Trump was considering replacing him with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Since every member of the Senate Democratic caucus is expected to oppose Hegseth’s bid, the Army veteran cannot afford to lose more than three GOP senators in next year’s Congress, in which Republicans will control the upper chamber with a narrow 53-47 majority.
This week, Hegseth is also set to meet with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
Republican lawmakers likely face renewed pressure to back Trump’s Cabinet picks, especially since two have bowed out mere days after their nominations. But when it comes to Hegseth, specifically, some Republicans are all-in to make sure he gets the important job he is unqualified for. A conservative group tied to multibillionaire Elon Musk is spending gobs of money on a new pro-Hegseth ad. And Trump seems content to ignore the numerous allegations against Hegseth, posting a message of support on his Truth Social platform.
Hegseth is even pitching himself on Fox News, trying to shore up support. But as the Civiqs poll shows, he’s mostly preaching to the choir: 88% of frequent Fox News viewers back his nomination.
